Sintra: planning the perfect visit to this fairytale place

Sintra: planning the perfect visit to this fairytale place

If you have plans to visit Lisbon, let me ask you this: have you heard about Sintra yet? At about 30 km away (under 20 miles for our American friends), this fairytale town is a must visit. Since I went a couple of years back, it has become incredibly popular, I’m sure you will understand why after visiting.

I have since gone again and noted tips to help you enjoy a perfect visit to this lovely place.

So let us start with why visit Sintra.

Sintra is home to various palaces, castles and picturesque estates of historical significance. You will also find lush gardens and the beautiful Sintra-Cascais Natural Park and Sintra mountains covering a large area. Then there is the westernmost point of continental Europe where you will find a lighthouse looking over stunning cliffs breaking off right onto the Atltantic. It’s no surprise it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I think this town pretty much sells itself no?

Well now that you are convinced, let’s get down to it!

How to get to Sintra from Lisbon?

I hope you are a morning person. Personally, I couldn’t be farther from it, but I magically transform when on vacation (hmm maybe vacation isn’t the most correct term for my kind of travelling…) But anyway, the reason I say this is because you will need to plan a very early morning if you want to avoid the crowds. Though I should say reasons* You’re gonna want to do yourself the favor of an early morning to be able to see as much as possible of all this town has to offer, but more on this later. First we need to get you there.

There are several ways to get to Sintra. I’m going to start with my recommended option: renting a car and driving there.

Option 1: Renting a car

This is precisely what we did. Very early in the morning we made our way to the airport, got our car, and about 27 minutes later were parking right outside of Pena Palace. 

Reasons I recommend this option:

It’s one of the quickest ways for getting there, and allows you the freedom of heading out as early as possible. And trust me, this will be very important! Getting around will be so much easier. Sintra is a very mountainous area, so getting around by foot is quite hard. Though not impossible, you will spend a lot of precious time getting from place to place.

You might ask, what about buses? Well, here we go back to the subject of Sintra’s popularity. You will be able to avoid the crowds waiting on the next bus.

Now there is a con: parking might become an issue, especially for Quinta da Regaleira (the parking there is very small).

view of pena palace, sintra, portugal from the Moor castle

Option 2: the train

The next best option is the train. It is operated by Comboios de Portugal and you will want to ride the Linha da Sintra, how easy huh. I recommend taking it from the Rossio Station. It is the most central option for this line, but also the actual station and the plaza in front are just beautiful. The reasons the bus is my second option are 

1. they have a better schedule- more frequent trips and starting much earlier than the bus

2. It is the cheapest option of the two. 

Now there is a con- it is the one that takes the longest.

Website: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

Option 3: the bus

And for the last option is a bus operated by Vimeca. It takes as much time as driving, about 27mins, but as mentioned above, the schedule starts later on (at 9am) and it is more costly than the train. You will need to grab the Sintra Express bus, which is now priced at €15 roundtrip

Website: https://mail.vimeca.pt/sitetestes/carreiras/sintra-express/horario.html

How to get around

Now obviously if you choose the option to rent a car, skip on ahead to the next section.

For the rest, a list of options, in no particular order this time:

Option 1: the local bus -- Scott URB

For those arriving by train, the Sintra bus picks you up right at the station. There are two options you will be interested in: line 434 and 435. Both will take you to the Historic Center. Line 434 will also take you to the Pena Palace and the Castelo dos Mouros, while Line 435 loops around Quinta da Regaleira, Palacio de Monserrate and others.

Now if you want to visit Cabo da Roca, which I might not recommend if you’re only there for one day (read: “How long to spend there” section👇🏽), you will want to take bus 403.

Website: https://scotturb.com/en/pt/

Option 2: Uber

Distances are mostly not too large between points of interest so uber is a good option. All uber drivers we had were very friendly and not at all opposed to giving some great tips 😉

Option 3: Sightseeing Hop on Hop off

Now this option is essentially the same as the local bus but with an interesting twist. While you are in the bus you will have the option to plug in to a voice over explanation of Sintra and the amazing places you will be visiting.

Website: https://city-sightseeing.com/en/81/sintra/111/hop-on-hop-off-sintra

Option 4: Last one is the Sight Sintra buggies.

These are tours on buggies you will be driving around yourself. There are a couple of tour and time options available on their site.

Website: http://www.sightsintra.pt/traduzido/percursos_tours.html

When to visit Sintra

Now, like any destination that’s become uber popular, I highly recommend visiting in the off-season (roughly November-March).

You will obviously find smaller crowds and shorter lines, and maybe even cheaper prices. Also, it is usually better for the destination. Avoiding the popular season means you are spending your monies in the slower season for the tourism industry. But also by not contributing to the crowds there are fewer problems of overpopulation for the communities you visit. A con is that some places or transports reduce their hours. But considering the smaller lines it might not even be much of a con after all.

Regardless of the season though the best times to visit places like Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira is early in the morning or close to end of day. We planned to arrive at Pena Palace before opening to be the first ones in line, but already there was a small line forming. By the time we were leaving at around 11am the line was weaving all through the entrance of the palace. A line I’m sure will take a couple of hours under the sun. 

Then, for Quinta da Regaleira we planned to arrive a little before they stopped selling the tickets*, around an hour and a half prior to close, and it was perfect. There were still a couple of people around but we were able to get pictures with no people! Especially in the inverted tower, this is pretty impossible at more popular times. But more importantly, no lines! We walked right in.

Now for some good news, Mondays are a go here in Sintra. You will find that many museums are closed on Mondays in Lisbon, so you can escape to Sintra instead.

*Quick note: the ticket booths close earlier than the monuments.

How long to spend there

Now it’s very common to visit as a day trip from Lisbon but I highly recommend staying the night. There are a couple of reasons for this:

 

  1. The biggest one, well there’s just too much to see to be able to fit everything into a single day. You could rush around and choose the top places but I think this would be a miss. Read the next section and you will understand what I mean.
  2. Best times to visit attractions are early in the morning and late in the afternoon after most tour buses have left. So two benefits, you won’t have to wake up as early the next day, and you can relax and enjoy the town after most people are gone.
  3. If you want to visit Cabo da Roca, it takes a bit of time to get there as it is about a 29 minute drive from the historical center. And as for public transportation, well that is about an hour and 20 minute ride over, just the one way.
view of sintra, portugal from the Moor castle

What to visit

Now I won’t be going into too much detail here, but I wanted to make a list of the crazy amount of monuments in this small place. This will help explain why you should definitely be planning longer than a day here.

Park and National Palace of Pena

This is probably the most popular attraction in Sintra, and it is well deserved. The architecture is so unique and colorful. The palace stands on a hill so you will also be able to get amazing views from the top. And as well as the palace, the visit includes large gardens full of very fun spots to discover like this crooked tree👇🏽. There are so many instagrammable spots in just this place, I definitely recommend leaving at least 2 hours for your visit. Especially if you plan on going inside the palace.

Chalet and Garden of the Countess of Edla

The Chalet is very picturesque and the gardens surrounding it contain indigenous vegetation as well as botanical samples from all around the world. It is located in the West side of the Pena Park so it is a good combination with the palace.

Castelo dos Mouros, or Moorish Castle

If you love views, this is THE spot to visit to look right over the historic center of Sintra and beyond at the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. You can also see the Pena Palace across the way atop its hill. And as you might imagine from the name, there is so much history here. This castle was built in the 10th century, but the area had been occupied since the 8th century. Oh and the actual fort is a sight to behold of its own right. I mean just look at this picture!

Park and Palace of Monserrate

This place was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 90s. You will want to make a stop here for the stunningly ornate architecture, where you will find Indian, Arab, and Anglo-Saxon influences weaved seamlessly together. Then there are the stunning gardens that can provide a relaxing break from all the crazy palace hopping that is a visit to Sintra.

Quinta da Regaleira

Another incredible spot for amazing architecture. Also, gardens. There are so many nooks and cool spots you will also want to give this place around 2 hours to fully enjoy the entire estate. It is also full of history as well as symbols from many different secret societies. So you can go on a mini hunt to discover all the eerie spots and all the symbolism weaved in the architecture.

Historic Center and the National Palace of Sintra

Then there is the center. You must give yourself the time to stroll around the center, which while small is very picturesque. Then a visit to the Palace for some more incredible architecture but also a really good dose of history. This visit might be the perfect time for a lunch break as the prices for food will be most fair at the center vs. at any of the palaces.

Cabo da Roca

Stunning views and the ability to say you’ve visited the westernmost point of continental Europe? Well this is the place for you. Now, it is quite a distance away from the center of Sintra but it can be worth the drive if you give yourself the time to explore the surrounding coast. And if you have a little more time? You can take a little detour to visit Ursa beach and/or Praia da Adraga.

Where to buy your tickets

Though it’s possible to buy the tickets at the entrances of the places, I highly recommend buying them ahead of time. Like really recommend that. There is an exception though, Quinta da Regaleira does not offer an online option.

Buying online will help you avoid the lines. But also, there are a couple of options available and this way you will have a better time comparing which is the best option for you. For example, Pena Palace has two ticket options: Park only or Park+Palace. You should also decide which places you want to visit as there is a discount for combining tickets for different monuments and parks, and it depends on how many you go to. Note Quinta da Regaleira is once again an exception as they are handled by a different organization.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Anaxy 28 Jun 2020 Reply

    Sencillamente espectacular! Confìo poder disfrutar el lugar en persona. Eternamente agradecida, Maite y Ambar. Besos.

    1. Maite Echeverria 30 Jun 2020 Reply

      Me alegra mucho. Espero que asi sea, de verdad que es un sitio que vale la pena!

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